Railway-switch.



E. RUSH.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

AYPLIOATION 1711.21) am. 25, 190B.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909. 2 SHEETs-SHEET 1.

[WK/[Kiwi lvihwamzy E. RUSH. RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25, 1908.

Patented Jan. 12'. 1909. sum 2.

2 sums- Qvihmaoea Th 5- NORRIS PETERS cm, wnsruumuu, a z:

EUGENE RUSH, OF VINCENNES, INDIANA.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

Application filed January 25, 1908. Serial No. 412,664.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Enenxn RUSH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vincennes, in the county of Vincennes and State of Indiana,have invented a new and useful Railway-Switch, of which the followingis' a specification.

This invention relates torailway switches and its object is to provide aswitch of this character which dispense with the use of the usual frog,said switch being provided with means wherebya car or train whilepassing onto the siding will travel above the rail of the main track sothat it becomes unnecessary to break the rail of the main track at thepoint where the switch is located.

Another object is to provide a switch the movable rails of which areprovided with means for elevating them so that one of said rails canassume a position over one of the rails of the main track when theswitch is open and can move downward to or below the level of the railsof the main line when the switch is closed.

A further object is to provide simple mechanism for actuating the switchin a positive manner, said mechanism being designed to securely hold theswitch after it has once been shifted.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction and combinations of parts which will behereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings is shown the preferred form of theinvention.

In said drawings: Figure l is a plan view of a switch constructed inaccordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a section on line aa,Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line b-b, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section online 0-0, Fig. 1, showing the switch open. Fig. 5 is an elevation ofthat end of the switch rail shiftable above the rail of the main track.Fig. 6 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a sectionon line d-(Z, Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a section on line ec, Fig. 1. Fig. 9 isa section on line f/, Fig. 1.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 and 2 designatethe inner and outer rails respectively of the main track and 3 and 3designate the corresponding fixed rails of the siding. The rail 3 isdisposed with its head in a plane above the head of rail 1 and abutsagainst said rail 1 and has its head cut away as at 4 so that the web ofthe rail 3 constitutes a bearing surface flush with the upper portion ofrail 1. Arranged upon the ties 5 and between the rails 1 and 2 arelifting blocks 6 having their upper faces beveled as shown particularlyin Fig. 2 and designed to support one of the movable rails 7 of theswitch. This rail is pivotally mounted at one end close to the rail2while the base and web of said rail at its other end are cut away. Thehead of the rail thus forms a tongue 8 designed when rail 7 is in itselevated position, to extend over the rail 1 and rest upon the cut awayportion 4 of rail 3.

A point 9 extends from the rail 7 close to rail 2 and is secured to saidrail 7 by means of a fish plate 10. This fish plate is bolted to therails 7 and 9 in the usual manner, one of the bolts extending through avertical slot 11 in the rail 7 so as to permit said rail 7 to swingupwardly relatively to the rail 9. This arrangement of the parts hasbeen shown in detail in Fig. 7. The other movable rail 12 of the switchextends from the rail 3 to which it is connected and with its pointclose to the rail 1 and this point and the point 9 are connected by arod 13 fastened to them in any suitable manner. As indicated in Fig. 1 aguard rail 14 is fastened to the point 9 and movable therewith. The rail1 is preferably provided with a groove 15 in its head close to the pointof rail 12 so that the flanges of the car wheels will be free to crossthe rail 1 when the switch is open.

Secured to the movable or tongue end of rail 7 is a draw bar 16 whichextends under the rails 12 and 1 and is connected to a crank 17 forminga part of a vertical shaft 18 which is journaled in cross strips 19fastened to the adjoining ties. This shaft has oppositely extending arms20 fastened to one end thereof. Extending from one of the arms 20 is acable 21 connected to a chain 22 which passes partly around a sheave 23supported adjacent the switch, another cable 24 connecting said chainwith a crank arm 25 which extends from an operating shaft 26. Anotherarm 27 extends from this shaft in a direction opposite to the arm 25 andhas a cable 28 extending from it to a chain 29 mounted on a sheave 30disposed adjacent the switch. A cable 31 extends from this chain to acoupling plate 32 from which another cable 33 extends to the other arm20. The cables 21 and 33 are both switch is open.

preferably provided with turn buckles 3i whereby said cables may beconveniently tightened should they become unduly slack.

' dicated in Figs. 1 and 2. This chain is connected by a cable 39' withan arm 40 rigidly fastened to the rail 7 near the tongue 8. Cable 39 andarm 40 operate below the rails 1 and 12. A turn buckle or other suitablemeans is used in connection with the cable 35, so, that slack thereinmay be conveniently t ken up.

Shaft 26 heretofore referred to has a crank 42 to which the rod 13 isconnected and a lever 43 extends from one end of this shaft andconstitutes means whereby the shaft can be actuated to operate the partsconnected thereto. A semaphore or other suitable signal device, notshown, may be connected to. the shaft 26 and operated'there' by so as toindicate whether or not the Whenever it is desired to open the switch sothat a car or train can pass onto the siding lever {L3 is swung toward;the rails and crank 42 will push 7 against rod 13 and press the point 9and the point of rail 11 aga1nst rails'2 and 1 respectively, asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. At the same time arms 25 and 27will operate to slacken cable 24 and to pullon cable,

28 simultaneously. Arms 20 will therefore be actuated so as to, partlyrotate crank 17 and cause the bar 16 to pull on rail 7. This rail willbe further actuated by cables 35 and 39 which receive motion from thecable 31. As rail 7 is drawn toward the rail 1 it rides upwardly on thebeveled faces of the blocks 6 so that tongue 8 is brought into positionover rail 1 and the cutaway portion 4 of rail 3. It will thus beapparent that when the car a proaches the switch it will be deflected bythe point 9 onto the rails 7 and ll and as the head of the rail 7 isdisposed above the rail 1 it will be apparent that the car wheels can,pass over saidrail 1 without coming into contact with Itbecomesunnecessary therefore to break the rail 1 at the point where the frog isusually located and as a result the mishaps usually resulting at thispointare practically pre vented. It will of course be obvious that whenthe lever 43 is shifted into an opposite direction the switch rails willbe moved 7 into their normal positions as indicated in Fig. 1 whereuponthe car can travel along the continuous main rails without danger to beunderstood that the rails 3 and 3 are immovably held elevated'above therails 1 and 2 so that a car can pass smoothly upwardly on the inclinedrails 7 and 11 and onto the rails 3 and 3.

hatisclaimed is:

.1. In a railroad switch the combination with immovable main line railsand immovable siding rails, one of said immovable siding railsterminating closetobut being ele,

'vatedabove one of the main line rails;;of a

movable, switch rail extending 7 from the other siding rail and besidethe. main line rails, a second movable switch rail between thev mainline rails and pivotedat one end adjacent one of the main line rails,the other 'movable switch rails, a crank shaft, a draw bar connectingthe crank of the shaft and.

one of the movable switch rails, arms movable with said crank shaft, anarm extending from said switch rail, an operating crank shaft, and;flexible connections tween the operating shaft and the arms of the drawbar, crank shaft, and the arm of the switch rail respectively.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy slgnature in the presence of two witnesses.

WVitnesses:

LOUIS A. MEYER, J OHN GATTo.

EUGENE RUSH;

of derailment at the switch. It is of course 1

